Plane Missing After Leaving Island Airport

Debris suspected to be from a missing plane was found washed ashore just east of Cheboygan Monday, August 27. The small, single-engine plane with two people on board left Mackinac Island Airport Friday afternoon, August 24, enroute to Bad Axe, although the plane never reached its destination. The pilot is Karen Dodds, 51, and the passenger is Brooke Stauffer, 55, both of Washington, D.C.

Michigan State Police dive teams will begin searching the area between the debris site and Bois Blanc Island when the weather clears, Detective Robin Sexton of the St. Ignace State Police Post told The St. Ignace News Tuesday, August 28. Thunderstorms traveled through the Straits area Tuesday morning, with more expected in the afternoon, which could delay the search, he said.

Flying a four-seater Trinidad aircraft, the two women landed on Mackinac Island Wednesday, August 22, for a brief vacation, said Dennis Bradley, Island air- airport manager, who remembered talking with them when they arrived at the airport.

Members of the U.S. Civil Air Patrol's Michigan Wing and ground teams began searching for the plane Friday, following the aircraft's projected flight path along the shoreline, said Major Pat Gorman, mission information officer from the Michigan Wing of the U.S. Civil Air Patrol.

More than 60 members of the Civil Air Patrol, using eight aircraft and three nine-member ground teams, covered more than 1,500 square miles in the first two days of the search, said Major Gorman.

While the flight crews retraced the aircraft's projected flight path and covered the surrounding area, he said, the ground teams followed up on leads phoned in by local residents and supported the flight teams when needed.

Agencies involved in the search include Michigan State Police Posts in St. Ignace and Cheboygan, sheriff departments in both Mackinac and Cheboygan counties, and the U.S. Coast Guard.